K-12 Education

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K-12 Education

Immigrants and second-generation students who are children of immigrants confront a number of unique academic challenges, including limited proficiency in the host-country language and greater barriers in preparing for college and careers. Research here focuses on student educational attainment and in particular on English Language Learners (ELLs), who have persistent and wide achievement gaps with native English speakers. Adolescent ELLs face a greater workload, learning English at the same time they are studying core content areas in English—with resulting challenges in passing tests and completing graduation requirements.

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There is an ongoing debate over the children born to Europe's guest workers of the 1960s and 1970s: Can they move up the educational ladder, or will they form a new underclass in Europe's largest cities? Maurice Crul of the University of Amsterdam compares outcomes for second-generation Turkish children across five countries.

Nebraska's foreign-born population grew faster than that of any other Midwestern state between 1990 and 2000. Lourdes Gouveia and Mary Ann Powell of the University of Nebraska at Omaha shed light on the second generation's progress in the country's heartland.

As the U.S.-born children of Latino immigrants reach adulthood, new data suggest that they will fare better than their immigrant peers. Richard Fry, Senior Research Associate at the Pew Hispanic Center, explains why.

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A webinar examining the outreach and initiatives by educational institutions and other community stakeholders seeking to support the education and training success of grantees of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

The event discussion, which touched on the intersection of race and immigration, focused on the demographics of Black immigrants (both African and Caribbean) in the United States and their children, their educational success, and the implications of the recently released volume’s findings for research and public policy.

Join MPI as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas discusses the application process and policies that the agency has announced to implement the administration’s deferred action program.

MPI is pleased to host a discussion with experts from both KIND and the Women’s Refugee Commission, focusing on the causes of the increase in unaccompanied minor migrants, the situation these minors face once detained or apprehended, and the challenges confronting both nongovernmental organizations trying to provide aid and the U.S. government agencies responsible for processing minors through the system.

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A webinar examining the outreach and initiatives by educational institutions and other community stakeholders seeking to support the education and training success of grantees of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

A discussion and report release on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, how its educational requirements may be impacting application rates, and recommendations for overcoming the education-success challenges that key subgroups of DACA-DREAM youth face.

Estimates of unauthorized immigrant populations that could receive relief from deportation under potential executive action scenarios to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, extend deferred action to other populations, or refine immigration enforcement priorities are discussed during this webinar.

This webinar covers key findings from MPI's report about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative and eligible populations two years after its implementation, and also introduces MPI's data tool that provides national and state-level estimates of the current and potentially eligible DACA populations, as well as detailed profiles for the U.S. and 25 states.

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A discussion and report release on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, how its educational requirements may be impacting application rates, and recommendations for overcoming the education-success challenges that key subgroups of DACA-DREAM youth face.

Estimates of unauthorized immigrant populations that could receive relief from deportation under potential executive action scenarios to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, extend deferred action to other populations, or refine immigration enforcement priorities are discussed during this webinar.

This webinar covers key findings from MPI's report about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative and eligible populations two years after its implementation, and also introduces MPI's data tool that provides national and state-level estimates of the current and potentially eligible DACA populations, as well as detailed profiles for the U.S. and 25 states.

MPI experts, along with representatives from Gwinnett County Public Schools and the University of Georgia's Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, discuss the educational experiences of Georgia’s first- and second-generation immigrant youth and where Georgia’s ambitious education reforms have met—or failed to meet—the needs of this growing population.

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Recent Activity

A report release examining PIAAC data on the skills of U.S. immigrant adults and whether there is a gap with native-born adults, and discussion of how these skills relate to key immigrant integration outcomes such as employment, income, access to training, and health.

Immigrant adults in the United States lag their native-born peers in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills, with resulting effects on their income, employment, education, and health, according to MPI analysis of U.S. scores on the 2012 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The findings, which reveal wide ethnic and racial gaps in scoring, underscore deep U.S. social inequalities.

A webinar showcasing MPI's data profiles of unauthorized immigrants in the 94 U.S. counties with the largest such populations, as well as the implications of the data for implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) programs.

A webinar examining the outreach and initiatives by educational institutions and other community stakeholders seeking to support the education and training success of grantees of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Since its launch in 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has intertwined immigration policy and the education and training fields in an unprecedented way. Based on fieldwork in seven states, this report examines the ways in which local educational institutions, legal service providers, and immigrant youth advocates have responded to the first phase of DACA, as well as the program's effects on students' educational and career aspirations.

It is crucial for children of migrant background in Europe to become proficient in their host country's main language of instruction. This MPI Europe policy brief provides key points and good practice examples on what comprehensive language support in Europe might look like.

For children of migrant background, school quality is critical to ensuring academic success. This MPI Europe policy brief examines how European policymakers can support school quality in four key areas: language diversity, the learning environment, social psychology and acculturation, and community connections.

Mentoring programs can target many core needs of children with an immigrant background that schools are not equipped to address, by providing specific and personalized support on the road to academic success. This policy brief prepared for the SIRIUS Network explores how European Union policymakers can make mentoring projects an integral part of the educational landscape at the EU level.

In the Spotlight

As many as 5.2 million unauthorized immigrants could gain relief under new and expanded deferred action programs that President Obama unveiled in November 2014. Check out our U.S. and state breakdowns of the populations that could benefit from the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program or new deferred action program for certain parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.